GREEN THUMBS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS--Tamsin Barzane

My RL backyard in the US once had a pocket garden, full of containers on the fences and path, overflowing with colorful cascades. But I'm not there in the summer now, and the baskets and planters are empty, with maybe a stray snapdragon whose seeds were hardy. The sweet-smelling roses were torn out by thieves who probably sold them at an open-air flea market.

But, truth be told, I'm a great admirer of flowers and plants, but an indifferent gardener. I loved my first house in Nigeria, in Jos--some kind predecessor had planted papaya, guava and banana trees, and when my neighbor gave me rose canes--left over when she trimmed hers--I just stuck them in the ground and they bloomed a month or two later.

We recently took a look at the animals of Nigeria (the slideshow's still up, though not for long; it has been transferred into a hippobook at Saminaka's library/bookshop, the Slate, Scroll & Stick), so it seems only right that plants should have their chance. Participating in the "Show Me the Green" Expo Luchenpur Darwin organized with the enthusiastic participation of Winn Wellman got me thinking about plants and crops (crops! well, I did learn how to plant a potato with my foot in Jos) and flowers, and I've begun gathering photos and materials for what I hope will be a very interesting slideshow, full of fun facts and information many of us (including me two seconds ago!) didn't know.

But, like the last display, I am going to combine it with a treasure hunt that will start a week or two later, and hide things by some of the vegetation. To this end, I decided to do further landscaping at Saminaka, and reexamine my inventory of botanicals as well. I had many beautiful African plants from Lilith Heart and Luna Bliss, two of the best-known nurseries on Second Life, but when it came time to look for specific types of trees or plants, the challenge was greater. A papaya tree? I couldn't find one better than the climbable one by Sally Lasalle's Chi Botanical Workshops, which is also fond of bopping the unsuspecting on the head with a ripe papaya. Mikey Fairlane had my kapok tree, and baobab variations could be found a few places.

An excellent set of tropical trees and flowers can be had at a place I hadn't run into before, JubJub Forder's One Prim Plants, which utilizes a sculpty framework for pasted-on plants. I went wild in there, buying things I don't even have the prims for (but someday.....).

Despite the plethora of great palm trees and fabulous orchids, some particular types of flora eluded me. Because of the upcoming exhibit, I was looking for specifics. I got to work on search, and lo and behold! I found the lovely Tropical Paradise Designs on Ocean Sunrise sim. THIS was what I'd been looking for to recreate my little corners of Nigeria. Flame trees, flamboyants, jacarandas, flowers I knew only by their Latin names.

I'd been dying to find bougainvilleas I was really happy with, since they flourish in Nigeria, climbing up walls, their draping making even homely surfaces look spendid. Both bushy and vine-like versions are available, their paper-like blossoms a reminder of daily beauty.

The owner and designer of Tropical Paradise Designs is the charming Thiery Fleury, who has a RL garden and nursery in the Canary Islands. A landscape designer, he has extensive art training and hand draws most of the plants at Tropical Paradise Designs. He creates gardens in France, as well as the Canaries. Which gardens are best, RL or SL? "I love all my gardens : ))" he says.

Thiery first found out about SL when he read about Anshe Chung in the business pages, and signed on out of curiosity. He found it enjoyable, bought some land, and started to learn. Initially he had no plans of bringing his RL business into SL--he wanted to build himself a garden, and bought some plants. Then he decided to make plants for himself. "All my friends were amazed at my private SL garden," he said. He and an SL friend from the UK bought Ocean Sunrise, and began the nursery in 2006 with just 4000 square meters. They now have one and a half sims. "I'm a very energetic builder," Thiery said. "I've got something new often and take away the old items."

"I've designed most of my favorite plants." I asked about his hand-drawn items, which differentiate him from many plant sellers, who photo-source their products. "When you learn landscape design, you spend many hours drawing plants. In the plant shops in SL you can see who is familiar with the plant industry and who isn't."

Thiery also has an enticing area full of birds with brilliant plumage and sweet trills. He added this at the end of 2007, modeling it after Palmito Park, a real bird park in the Canary Islands (look it up at http://www.palmitospark.es/index.php?wlang=en and you'll be looking for a travel agent). His friend does the scripting, he creates the birds.

"I like color," declares Thiery. And I, for one, am grateful for it!

See Tropical Paradise Designs at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ocean%20Sunrise%202/33/83/22

One Prim Plants at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tula/169/212/91

Chi Botanical Workshops: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chi/170/158/30

Luna Bliss:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Callahans%20Isle/43/194/232

Lilith Heart:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heart%202/149/77/21

Mikey Fairlane:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alcona/147/174/106

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OCHL ENTERPRISES

Read the blog at http://www.fatimaochl.net/, get an introductory copy of OCHL's GUIDE TO MUSIC AND DANCE IN SL at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deminis/133/206/30

UNDER THE MANGO TREE--Tamsin Barzane

I just passed my second SL birthday (and, like RL, was convinced I was a year older than I was!), and feel like taking stock. I didn't find out about Second Life in any of the conventional ways--I saw a reference to it in the newspaper comics, and checked it out. And then I became indignant towards one of my work colleagues, who knew all about it.

I'd been interested in virtual worlds for a long time. I was an avid Mystian when it first appeared, and a Zorker in the days of text games. Anybody remember Adobe's trial 3D beta world, Adobe Atmosphere? It bowled me over, even though there was nothing to do but look! And I'd read Snowcrash and loved it--if you haven't read this great novel that formed the inspiration for the Lindens to create SL, get thee to a library. So even the knowledge that SL was there, and already big (summer 2007) was very exciting.

My first thoughts were of education, because I'd taught a seminar about delivering art history in new ways. This came about because of an incredibly feeble computer game, Lotus Spring. It had virtually no story, but was it gorgeous! It was developed up in Vancouver at the university, in conjunction with a prof who knew all about the Chinese Imperial Garden. You could click on an ornate chest and a men's embroidered jacket would appear! Just seeing it made me think how a further click could tell you about the meaning of the motifs, or the type of silk...oh, yes, stealth education! (random trivia--who remembers Apple's stacking notecards?) And those exquisite textures, created by Maya before it was a name every graphics fiend knew.

Of course I wanted Africa, not China or the ancient Rome that was my next foray into this kind of architectural/cultural submersion game. I pestered my chairman to buy me Maya, which I have been incapable of even installing correctly--perhaps a good thing, since it can't be transferred to another machine, and that was a good six years ago or more. But I still proudly have my Maya backpack in the closet!

So SL provided the opportunity to do just what I wanted, in an atmosphere full of people from all over the world! But as an unfledged chick, I wasn't ready for that. I had to acclimatize. I was lucky enough to find a mentor in Chan Dejavu, who at that time owned a little coffee shop, the original Soul Lounge. She started to up her presence with regular DJ'ed dances and drew a great crowd of interesting people.

I became her hostess, the Soul Mate, and learned about radar and IMs, spyware and gestures. When she branched out and built her sim, Dejavu Isles, it was thrilling to see the plans take place--why were these buildings located here, why were these shops priced this way? Her exciting vision of a spot to highlight the best of Diaspora culture while providing fun and beauty remains inspirational, and there's nothing like the nostalgia the club gesture (***I GOT SOUL!!!!***DO YOU HAVE SOUL?*** ) still provides!

I started my own little shop, Seven Cowries (now migrated to Saminaka), to sell African art--and had to learn (not very well at first!) how to make alpha channels and import and resize textures. Then tignon, that sold diaspora art. Now I was full up into it! I had a little shop on Santa Iemanja Island, another when Virtual Africa opened Robben Island. And Alanagh Recreant, owner of both, gave me a boost when she had me design some furniture, quickly followed by Feelino Paine, for his home. And then a little cowboy art store for a friend, and slex bed construction (yikes, scripts!), and even a tiny off hours, graffitied-up building in Little Philly.

All this plunged me into building, albeit in a haphazard way--a class here or there, looking in my Photoshop book index, asking questions.

Saminaka was born, and strategizing events and prims began! But then a RL exhibition created a looooong SL hiatus, and I came back to find a (temporarily) devastated sim---hmmm, somehow I had allowed any and all rights to terraform. But it was soon put to rights.

And finally, this past Spring, a real effort to combine my fun with education through slide shows, hippo books, informal lectures, The Middle Passage Experience, and the library began in earnest, with lots of help from Oliha Yiwama, Khoisan Fisher, Bafana Beaumont, and many more friends and cohorts.

And this past week a scholar got in touch with me about the Experience--she wants to include it in a publication she's doing about SL and education. A thrill, and an impetus to push my university and involve my students.

And yet, I find my latest venture, cacao...couture from the chocolate lands, is equally a thrill and fun to boot, a kind of supercharged exploration of the paper doll creation of my childhood (nobody dressed the Jetsons better). In RL, I have no entrepreneurial experience. I'm a sewer (lapsed at the moment) and love costume and fashion history (gave a seminar on African dress not too long ago), and I'm listening to the guidance of my friends Tomi, Oliha and Gudia as I feel my way forward to SERIOUS SL clothes. I am curious--will it go anywhere, or just provide entertainment for me? Could it possibly....pay tier? Provide a few Christmas presents? I shall keep you posted, along with suggestions and observations regarding successful and satisfying businesses along the way.

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It is with immense pleasure we have opened the Kiko Life sim to the general public. Our gorgeous new city, with well laid out streets, pocket parks tucked away in corners, and the stunning density of diasporic designers, offering some of the finest shopping for ethnic avatars in Second Life. This not your typical 'urban' mall. Looking for elegance, class and quality? Walk through the sim! A pleasure to the senses and eye, you won't regret your stroll.

The Rest of Our Fabulous Photo Entries

Saminaka recently concluded its first photo competition, requiring that all photos be taken on the sim. We had some great entries, and showed you some in our last issue. I'm always amazed at the skills

in composition, color use, and the moods of lighting that are possible.

Here are the rest! We will be having another contest soon, this time requiring a plant or tree be included in the photo. Why? It will be leading up to our upcoming Nigerian flora exhibition and subsequent hunt! So get those cameras ready....You'll see a call for entries right here in the Compass or through the various groups in the weeks ahead.

Thanks again to our sponsors: Kiko Life for a voucher for five free skins, spirit Wingtips for a photo shoot, me for 2000L cash and a variety of gifts. But everyone was a winner, with a purchase an outfit or shoes from Cinnamon Brigade or Tropicality. If you haven't claimed your prize, contact Tamsin Barzane! She will gladly make it transfer if you'd like to give it to a friend.

The winner of any Saminaka photo contest must sit the next one out, but can reenter after that.

This week, a splendid photo of Bouthayna Arashi doing her laundry, two photos by

Acuminous Watanabe (both relating to the Middle Passage Experience), the ever-elegant Mysa Masatada, and the powerful Horse with Drum by Feretian String.

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FereSight Tarot Readings

by Feretian String

Tarot is more than a game to simply tell you when you'll come into a million dollars or that a mysterious stranger will find their way into your life.

Tarot is a tool for self discovery, helping us to acknowledge the power of choice in our lives and the self awareness that is neccessary to realizing our dreams and confronting our fears. The Tarot reveals what we already know deep down in our subconscious and spreads that knowledge onto our surface awareness.

Fere reads RL Tarot cards. If you are not satisfied with your reading, you simply do not pay. Your privacy is guaranteed. Inquiries by IM.

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Ads! We have an initial special offer for you, whether you are shopkeepers or classified customers! Remember you can advertise your shop, feature an item, or try to sell a transferable item. If your ad has a photo, it costs more. There are discounts for extended runs of the same ad, and lesser discounts if you have constant ads, but they vary from week to week. YOU CAN ALSO USE THIS VENUE TO ADVERTISE RL OBJECTS AND SERVICES; LIST YOUR EBAY OR OTHER SITE AND REACH OUR CUSTOMERS (Tamsin Barzane will never reveal your rl identity to readers). All ad payments are in-world and in lindens. Ads for the coming week should be submitted by noon SLT Sunday.

Single ad, no photo, one week. maximum 5 Blogger lines: 50L
Single ad, photo, one week. Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 100L
Single ad recurring, no photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 175L
Single ad recurring, photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines: 325L
Single ad changing week-to-week, no photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines. 180L
Single ad changing week-to-week, photo, one month (4 issues). Text maximum 5 Blogger lines. 425L

If you want longer text, more than one photo, or a longer ad run, prices will be adjusted. Contact Tamsin Barzane through inworld notecard or at tbarzane@gmail.com

These are introductory prices--no telling if they'll last more than a month! Get em while you can! This is our EIGHTH ISSUE, and we're up to 565 readers! That's a big jump, and our readers come from all over the world. WE GROW DAILY!!

FROM THE SUITCASE--Oliha Yiwama

Oliha has managed to send another missive out from Nigeria, and I'm going to sprinkle it with some background info in brackets--he has big plans for implementing some of his RL interests into SL....

I have been in the great city of Benin for over a month now, researching African spirituality. What a wonderful place!

Ifa, better known to Americans through the Yoruba, has been widely practiced in Great Benin, according to oral traditions. [Ifa is a divination system that relies on the Yoruba orisha Orunmila to reveal the order apparent in the other world, even when our lives look chaotic here. A Yoruba Ifa diviner, or babalawo, apprentices as a youth and memorizes verses and explanatory stories. When a client comes to him, he either uses a short cut--an opele, or divination chain--or the full equipment of carved wooden tray, tapper, and sacred palm nuts to elicit a numerical

combination. This links to certain verses, and the babalawo tells the client the source of his problems and prescribes a sacrifice to bring harmony to his world. The Yoruba also have another divination system that uses the throws of cowrie shells to pull the veil from the other world; this system survived in Brazil and Cuba, and has come to the US with the orisha religion.]

Benin Ifa is somewhat different from Yoruba Ifa. Some Benin Ifa priests believe that Orunmila, divination deity, originally came to Benin before going to the Yoruba center of Ile-Ife, while others accredit Ifa to the Yoruba. The associated verses used in Benin territory are definitely Edo, with many Edo symbols. There are also many oral stories of Ifa priests contributing to the tradional Edo pharmacopeia.

Ifa exists in Benin along with Olokun, an original Edo deity of the great waters, Ogun, the deity of iron, Esu, the Yoruba trickster deity, Osun, the Edo equivalent of Osanyin, god of medicine, though he is more hot and fiery.

The Ifa organizations in Benin City are very structured and organized according to seniority--one's date of initiation into the Ifa system. Priests and citizens alike are very respectful of the ancestors and elders, and it is a privilege to work with them.

It is the elders who guide correctly!

--Oliha Yiwama

HAWKING IN THE MARKET--SAMINAKA COMMERCIAL NEWS

***Tamsin is opening a new upscale boutique on the fabulous new Kiko Life sim. Called cacao...couture from the chocolate lands, its clothing is inspired by Africa. The first line was prompted by the designs of Zulu baskets, woven from colorful telephone wires. Grand opening party!!!! (see events)

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This Nigerian men's caftan has simple embroidery around the neck and at the pant hem. Wax print cloth and a matching cap make you a dashing fellow, ready for casual conversation, an enjoyable stroll, or for any outing. At Cinnamon Brigade: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/122/174/31

WETIN BE DAT? Pidgin English phrase of the week

Wetin be your own?

(What's your business with this matter?)

MY PEOPLE SAY--NIGERIAN PROVERB OF THE WEEK

"Slowly, slowly defeats quickly!" Tiv people, Benue State

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--JULY 27 to AUGUST 2

Tues., July 28, 6 pm SLT. Weekly meeting of Egbe Akowe Writers Group at the new Slates, Scrolls & Sticks, Saminaka's library cum bookstore. Join the group and receive its missives by hitting the Subscribe-o-Matic (doesn't add to group count) at the meeting location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/174/194/30 or the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint on Tarkwa Beach. Critique/sharing the first hour, then writing fun afterwards for the lingerers. Prepare to use BenGay--Acu Watanabe will split your sides with her wisecracking!

We have great meetings--come even if you haven't written this week and join the discussion and in-place exercises!


Sunday, Aug. 2; time uncertain--4 to 6 slt? Will update time here when established. Grand Opening of Tamsin's new boutique on Kiko Life sim. Hear fantastic DJ HarleyMC Honeywood spin African popular music and other tunes! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kiko%20Life/234/114/1506

Ongoing for unspecified period. Visit Saminaka's booth at the "Show Me the Green" Expo on the

rooftop of the Museum of the African-American Experience here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/136/213/28

Ongoing for 2 more weeks. The Middle Passage Experience has been relocated outside Treet.TV's studios. With more prims, it is more powerful than ever! Foliage surrounds the paths you take from freedom to slavery, and evocative sounds reinforce the move from everyday contentment to horror. Make history come alive! At http://slurl.com/secondlife/Northpoint/71/68/23

The Brilliance of Africa--Not Just the Sun

In the 1920s, African Americans clung to Egypt as THE benchmark of African intellectual heritage, because they, like every other American, bought into public perceptions of the so-called “Dark Continent”—a place of savagery where people grunted like animals, hoping for a Tarzan to swing through and rescue them. Today people know more, but still fairly little. Teachers don’t know too much, so who can expect their students (who may become teachers themselves) will match that low bar? Of course, if you have African friends, take classes or read on your own, or have been lucky enough to travel, more information comes forth. Still, it seems as if the interested might like to have a little more info readily available, even right here in Second Life.

With that in mind, Saminaka built its library/bookstore. Slate, Scroll & Stick (a name that alludes to Muslim, Christian, and traditional modes of education) is now sitting pretty on the sim, and this Wednesday night will host an opening of a slideshow about Timbuktu while launching an in-world hippo book The African Intellectual Tradition, and a second little volume, Nigerian Authors.

Putting these things together, I decided to ask a few friends some questions—market research after the fact. The Timbuktu slideshow is all about ancient universities—but the mere mention of “Timbuktu” had some residents ask “Is it a real place?” It still has a back-of-beyond sound to it, and my guess is relatively few Saminaka visitors know that it’s in Mali, much less that it housed a university older than any in Europe except Bologna—though the universities in Morocco’s Fez and Egypt’s Cairo are older yet. In fact, as Oliha Yiwama underlined, the university was invented in Africa. (China has even older higher educational traditions, but they were organized in a different way, without degrees).

I asked BlackMink Toshi, owner of "Someplace Else," which includes a concert stage area and tropical lounge, as well as an African Village, open for group and personal use free of charge, what she knew about Timbuktu. “Only what I have read,” she said, betraying a skeptic’s (correct) view of scholarship. “And you know what? I did not like some things I have read, that may or may not be true. Seems to me that African people were engaged in some things that may have set the stage for being taken advantage of. Whenever you find a system of "royalty" you can bet that someone is being mistreated—everyone cannot be kings and queens, and I suspect that some persons were mistreated for the sake of this ‘royalty’ and/or ‘intellectual’ tradition. In any case, whatever they were doing ‘intellectually’ was not enough to prevent being mistreated on the basis of color or factors related to it. Bragging...and showboating gold to ‘visitors.’ and offering them gifts of ‘slaves’ may not have been in the best interest of the culture.”

This hardly seemed the time to wax enthusiastically about ancient manuscripts on optics and astrology, linguistics and history—for I could not deny that a manuscript considering slave-taking in Islamic jihads by no means condemned it. Indeed, BlackMink kept this from being an “Isn’t Africa great?” feature with her independent thoughts. “Great,” she said, ‘but guilty at times of ‘Inappropriate behavior.” It’s worth remembering; intellectuals everywhere have distorted findings and misdirected people, and some have become heads of state, enthusiastically misleading their followers.

I moved quickly to a new topic, familiarity with modern African universities. When I inquired how many there were, Feretian String hesitated and said, “I would guess...oh....10?” She pointed out her education had been very Eurocentric, and that since becoming a Saminaka resident. she had “started reading the folktales and other bits from [the] library and the welcome area exhibits. And I'm fascinated by the photographs of Nigeria and the art! I am hooked.”

She wasn’t alone in her unfamiliarity, by any means. Several citizens hazarded the guess that there might be “one or two.” Linda Sautereau, a university professor by trade, knew differently. “Universities in Africa...lord...must be hundreds.” Likewise, Sentwali Gabilondo guessed 150, and PHaTTSaMM Fizz said, “I am sure hundreds...having visited Kenya and Zimbabwe. They are not strangers to higher education.” I don’t have the exact count myself—unwilling to wade through Wikipedia to get it—but it is indeed in the hundreds. Nigeria alone has scads of universities, polytechnics and other higher degree-granting institutions. And many African professors have landed teaching positions in American schools, lest anyone think their education is in any way behindhand.

African authors? Only a few had had a taste, which seems a pity—nothing can convey a real feel for a place and culture faster than a good novel. Sentwali named Wole Soyinka, Diop, Kagame, Mongo Bete. Chinua Achebe (who shares a birthday with this author) was the first name on his lips, and was also mentioned by two other readers, BlackMink Toshi and Linda Sautereau. Achebe, who authored (among many other books) the excellent Things Fall Apart (probably the most frequently assigned African novel in U.S. classrooms), is now 78 and teaching at New York’s Bard College. After a car accident in 1990, he was confined to a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down.

His vigorous prose uses traditional Igbo proverbs to explore the impact of Western culture on Igbo life. BlackMink commented, “He has pointed out the inability of some African cultures to recover from devastation to the point of being capable of preserving themselves thus are still ‘helpless,’ as things fall apart.” Linda heard Achebe speak at Princeton last year and counted herself lucky.

“I can say one thing,” she said. “His body may be ailing, but his mind is keen and he has the most wonderful view of life of life. He didn't see his life as extraordinary. He did what had to be done in the time he lived. It was inspiring to see someone who was so comfortable with himself, his life and the world, despite the hardships he had suffered. His spirit shown, through his voice and his demeanor. He didn't seem like a man who was ailing at all--still vibrant...involved...active...it was awesome! From my perspective, as a black woman ‘of a certain age,’ I felt like my best days are ahead of me.”

Asked about other great minds of Africa, PHaTTSaMM Fizz brought up Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Shaka Zulu, while Sentwali named Cheikh Anta Diop. The ever-provocative and always quotable BlackMink named Robert Mugabe. She expanded, “Robert Mugabe has visibly done more towards the effort of producing justice than any African leader. He has proven himself to be quite ‘smart.’ ‘Smart’ meaning the ability to get things done. He reminds me of the Jews in Israel, as he is taking the same direct action to reclaim the land of his ancestors, and I think he should receive the same support as Israel.”

Miles Barbasz, in SL a creative photographer (his interpretive self-portrait shown here) and also the developer of Nago Wes Estates, is an academic and an Africanist in RL. He admired a different set of Africans, quickly reeling off a list that included Okot p'Bitek, Kwame Gyekye, Wande Abimbola, V. Y. Mudimbe and Kofi Asare Opoku.

Unsurprised at a general unfamiliarity with African intellectual history, he commented. “One of the most prevalent misconceptions about precolonial African cultures is that they were lacking in intellectual sophistication or substance because their modes of knowing by and large were not encoded textually, as was and is the case in the West. However, such a notion is grossly misguided, because what the ancient African world teaches us is that intricate religio-intellectual traditions can be encoded and transmitted non-textually via proverbial knowledge and ritual practice, to name only a few methods. Moreover, indigenous Africa is also highly instructive in that it forces us to realize that intellectual activity is meaningful only to the extent that it can be effectively manifested in everyday life for the betterment of individuals and humankind.”

Indeed, the oral traditions of Africa passed along much knowledge over the centuries, both esoteric and practical. Bases other than the familiar base ten system were used to calculate currency in West Africa for centuries, and the Kuba culture of the Democratic Republic of Congo is said to have one of the highest proportions of geometric design combinations in the world—a mix of mathematics and art, as is polyrhythmic drumming. West Africa’s Fulani cattle herders knew cowpox rubbed in an incision would prevent smallpox long before Jenner made his “discovery” in England.

But knowledge did not remain only oral. Besides the early importation of Arabic literacy in parts of East and West Africa, and of European literacy of various stripes—not only in colonial times, for numerous royal children studied in Portugal in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries—indigenous writing systems are also known. AbaBrukh Aabye’s early Eritrean/Ethiopian builds (see Saminaka Compass 6/28) includes an inscription that dates from the fifth century B.C.E. The region’s ancient Ge’ez script was employed in everything from stories of the Christian saints to histories to works of literature. Ge’ez and its descendent, Amharic, use only two African alphabets. Nubian, Bamum and Vai cultures created their own writing systems, and some other ethnic groups, like those of Nigeria’s Cross River region, employed pictographs in communication.

PHaTTSaMM noted, “Africa is the 'cradle of civilization'--most of European descent have forgotten or are ignorant of that fact.” But they are not alone; many with that blood watered by the Senegal, the Niger, the mighty Congo and the Benue are equally unfamiliar with Africa’s great gifts. Take the opportunity to learn more on Saminaka, and join us for Wednesday’s opening (see Events, below) or at any convenient time.

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These lovely heeled sandals, made from pearlized ivory leather, bear a cascading profusion of sculpted roses. Your toes will enjoy this garden--all thorns have been removed! We call them Jos roses, after Tamsin's first Nigerian home. Why? When a neighbor trimmed her roses and handed Tam the cut canes, she just stuck them in the ground. Not only did they root, they bloomed within three months! Get them on Saminaka at Cinnamon Brigade: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/121/177/31/31

UNDER THE MANGO TREE--Tamsin Barzane

It's been a busy week, with another one ahead. I have the summers off, I have no children to look after, you'd think all would be relaxing, but it isn't. There's still fallout in the form of a barrage of emails to be answered, calls I don't want to take, requests that are interesting but not what I want to do right now, bills to take care of, and all the things you know all too well.

When I think back to my time in Nigeria, I realize few of these things applied--or at least not on a regular basis. Nobody took credit cards--so you only bought things you could afford and thought you needed. Bills were for utilities, but those who couldn't afford could tip the electricity men something and their lines were safe for another month or so. Hungry? A friend would always be willing to share. Anxieties and pressures still existed, but at a different weight and pressure.

Maybe that's one reason I enjoy Saminaka so much. I like to go out dancing, but when people use their spammy gestures and words cover the screen, it's almost as if shouting is going on. A frantic pace is a sort of artificial excitement, like restaurants with intentional bad acoustics meant to foster the noise of a thousand happy, frenzied customers.

Slow down with me. Saminaka has two "off" islands, one with a hammock, the other with a beach blanket or a tree pose. There's the Wikki Warm Springs, where you can float in the water. Sit on the pier by the waterfall and swing your legs, or splash in the pool it spills into. Relax with a cup of palmwine at the Manatee Lookout, or read a book in the library. You'll feel your pulse slow, your muscles relax. It may be virtual, but it can have real physical effects! C'mon over! We've even moved the giant video screen over to Apapa port, so the view of the sunsets is unimpeded. Your free trip to anxiety free paradise could begin right now!